Democratic Union Party of Syria

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) is a Kurdish democratic socialist political party in northern Syria, founded in 2003. The party was formed five years after Hafez al-Assad's Ba'athist government banned all Kurdish parties in the country, and the PYD suffered years of violent repression at the hands of the Syrian regime. The PYD was involved in numerous riots and demonstrations in northern Syria, agitating for the recognition of Kurdish rights in the diverse country. The party believed in social equality, justice, and freedom of belief, and its main goal was to create a democratic and multicultural society. During the Syrian Civil War, the PYD governed the semi-autonomous Rojava region, and it served as the de facto political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces, who fought against the Islamic State, Turkey, and Islamist Syrian Opposition groups. In 2017, the party held 8/43 Democratic Council seats.